For some time plastic beverage cases dimensioned to accommodate a plurality of beverage containers such as milk cartons have been used beneficially to transport and store the beverage containers. The milk cartons stored in the beverage cases are generally of the conventional sizes; i.e. pint, quart, half-gallon. Typically, an array of cartons such as nine half-gallon cartons fit neatly in a container with sufficient allowance to afford insertion and removal of the individual cartons without damage to the cartons or inconvenience to a person removing the carton.
The beverage cases are designed to be stacked, especially during shipment when a maximum amount of milk cartons are intended to be transported in a minimum amount of space. Thus, when the beverage cases are full and stacked three, four or five high, a column of considerable weight is established. Typically, the beverage cases are provided with a continuous inner rim that depends downwardly from the case at a location inwardly from the periphery of the case. The rim is sized to fit inside the inner edge of the top of another case and depends downwardly from the bottom of each case about one-fourth to three-eighth inches. Practice has taught that any greater depth of the rim causes difficulty in manually separating the beverage cases.
The current practice of moving a column of beverage cases from a location, such as an inventory storage area to a point of sale display location, is to manually remove each beverage case individually from the column and restack the beverage cases.
Recently, efforts have been made to move the beverage cases either individually or in stacked columns by sliding the beverage cases over a floor surface. The beverage cases are provided with gripping structures adapted to receive a hook. The hook is attached to the beverage case gripping surface, usually a beverage case handle, and force is exerted to move the beverage case across a floor surface. During travel of a column of beverage cases, the hook is attached to a handle of the bottom beverage case of the column and pulled across a floor. The handler usually uses one hand to pull the hook and the other to steady the column by holding the handle of one of the upper cases in the column. Typically, a slight tilting of the column occurs and the column is dragged across the floor on the near edge of the rim at the bottom of the bottom beverage case. A less than totally stable condition results. Further, wear of the case rim from continual use produces a condition wherein even less positive connection between the cases exists.
Generally, the weight of the full cartons provide a vertical force on the respective beverage cases comprising a column of beverage cases. However, when sudden forces are applied to move the column, there is a tendency for the beverage cases to separate. Further, when moving the empty stacked beverage case, the vertical connecting force imposed by the full cartons is absent. Thus, the tendency of the beverage cases to separate is much greater.